Molecular weight and configurational stability of poly(phenylacetylene) prepared with Rh catalyst

Photosensitization agents for fs laser writing in PDMS

This study aims at identifying compounds incorporated into Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) which produce large refractive index change under fs laser exposition, potentially leading to optimal writing of waveguides or photonic devices in such a soft host. Germanium derivative, titania and zirconite derivatives, benzophenone (Bp), irgacure-184/500/1173 and 2959 are investigated. We show a mapping of the RI index change relative to the writing speed (1 to 40 mm/s), the repetition rate (606 to 101 kHz) and the number of passes (1 to 8) from which we establish quantitative parameters to allow the comparison between samples. We show that the organic materials, especially irgacure-184 and benzophenone yield a significantly higher maximum refractive index change in the order of 10^-2. We also show that the strongest photosensitivity is achieved with a mixture of organic/organo-metallic material of Bp + Ge. We report a synergetic effect on photosensitivity of this novel mixture.

Dimerization of terminal alkynes promoted by a heterobimetallic Zr/Co complex

Enynes are important synthetic intermediates that are also found in a variety of natural products and other biologically relevant molecules. The most atom economical synthetic route to enynes is via the direct coupling of readily available terminal alkyne precursors. Towards this goal, we demonstrate the formation of 1,3-enynes from terminal alkynes facilitated by a reduced ZrIV/Co-I heterobimetallic complex. An intermediate is trapped as a tBuNC adduct, revealing that bimetallic activation of the terminal C-H bond of the alkyne is an essential mechanistic step.